Location: Haut-Rhin department Map
Info: Palais du Gouverneur,
6 pl d'Armes
Tel. 03 89 72 56 66
www.tourisme-rhin.com
Musee Vauban
Pl Porte de Belfort
Tel. 03 89 72 03 93
Open: May- Oct: Wed- Mon
Nov-Apr: groups, by appointment
Neuf-Brisach is settlement that arouse on the site of the former fortress in Haut-Rhin department of France. It was designed by Vauban as an octagonal citadel that protected border against German states. It was constructed between 1698 and 1707. It consists of two walls of protection and the city is broken into 48 squares for ease of defense. A central church Eglise St- Louis was added in 1731- 36 and dedicated to the saint patron of French king Louis XIV known as Sun King. If you want to learn more about fortress' history you can visit Musee Vauban at the Porte de Belfort.
Neuf-Brisach is located in the part
of the Alsatian plain, near the German border and the Rhine (5 km).
Neuf-Brisach has a site polluted with creosote, once used to
treat railway ties.
Located in the Alsace plain, Neuf-Brisach is 3.5 km from the bridge over the Rhine, which marks the border, and the German town of Vieux-Brisach on the other bank. The municipal territory consists only of the "new town", the fortifications and their rights-of-way. The town of Volgelsheim in the east is contiguous, its municipal territory extending from the stronghold to the Rhine. The rural municipalities of Wolfgantzen in the west, on the road to Colmar, Biesheim in the north and Weckolsheim in the south, are located in a close environment.
Neuf-Brisach is accessible by the A35
motorway, which passes through Colmar, and various departmental
roads. Colmar is 15 km, Mulhouse 35 km and Freiburg, Germany, 33 km.
Public road transport services by bus connect Neuf-Brisach to
Colmar. The TGV serves Colmar and the nearest airport, EuroAirport
Bâle-Mulhouse4, is 56 km away, Strasbourg International Airport
being 82 km away.
The means of tourist transport are not only
linked to the road since you can take a tourist and historical train
from the old station of Volgelsheim to reach the Sans-Soucis pier
and board a boat for a cruise on the Rhine . Neuf-Brisach Ville
station is now closed to all traffic. The Route verte, a symbol of
Franco-German friendship, linking the French Vosges to the German
Black Forest massif from the early 1960s onwards, links the historic
towns of Neuf-Brisach by hiking or cycling. French and Vieux-Brisach
the German.
In 1697, the Treaties of Ryswick signed in
Rijswijk, a Dutch town on the outskirts of The Hague, put an end to
the war of the League of Augsburg between Louis XIV and the Grand
Alliance. France loses the stronghold of Brisach on the German bank
of the Rhine. In order to make up for the loss of the old
stronghold, which left a defensive void between Strasbourg and
Mulhouse, Louis XIV decided to build a new fortified town facing
Brisach, located half a league from the Rhine, to prevent any
invasion from across the Rhine. He entrusted the study to his
architects Vauban and Jacques Tarade.
Louis XIV chose, among
three projects, a stronghold on an octagonal plan, with 8 bastioned
towers, covered with as many guards, in addition to the tenaillons,
large and small demi-moons and other works.
Construction
began on October 18, 1698 with the laying of the first stone, the
fortifications of the new citadel were completed in 1702. A channel
was specially dug to the Vosges to transport the pink sandstone
necessary for construction. ; on October 11, 1731, the foundation
stone of the Royal Saint-Louis church was laid, completed in 1736.
The town hall was completed in 1758.
Apart from an alert, in
1743, it did not play a major role in history, especially if we
compare its fate to that of Huningue: after being the object of a
blockade of 106 days by the Austrians in 1814-1815, Neuf-Brisach was
besieged for the first time from September 1 to November 10, 1870.
Its garrison of 5,500 men and 108 cannons, locked in outdated
fortifications, opposed the German troops for 33 days before being
forced to surrender.
If the city is partially destroyed by
the bombardments, it will be rebuilt. Become a German stronghold,
the city will see its fortifications largely modified from the years
1875 to adapt to the new conditions of the war and to realize the
heart of the important German bridgehead of Neuf-Brisach
(Brückenkopf Neubreisach). This bridgehead equipped with the most
modern equipment is a major set of fortifications on the Upper
Rhine.
A railway line is built on part of the outer walls.
Due to its isolation in the fortifications, the city has no
possibility of extension.
Its garrison was dissolved in 1992.
Neuf-Brisach, the last fortification built ex nihilo by Vauban,
is considered the culmination of his work in military architecture.
The city severely affected by the American bombings of 1945 is now
restored and, since July 2008, is one of the twelve major
fortifications of Vauban which are classified as World Heritage by
UNESCO.
Some dates :
In 1792, General Favart d'Herbigny
commanded the defense of Neuf-Brisach.
In 1793, Jean-Antoine
Louis released municipal officers from the village accused of having
refused to obey the military requisitions of the two pro-consuls of
Alsace, Saint-Just and Lebas.
On October 4, 1793, Major General
François-Joseph Offenstein (1760-1837) was appointed commander of
the Place de Neuf-Brisach to replace General Gromard, who was
suspended.
Between 1815 and 1821, succeeding the camp marshal,
comte de Sabran (placed there in December 1814), Brigadier General
Dermoncourt, actor in the failure of the blockade of 1814-1815,
commanded the place
The town was decorated on November 11, 1948
with the 1939-19459 war cross with a silver star.
July 7, 2008,
official UNESCO World Heritage listing
Heraldry
The arms
of Neuf-Brisach are emblazoned as follows:
“Azure in the sun,
sixteen rays of gold, a fleur-de-lis Argent in a point. "
Festivities
Neuf Brisach International Land Art Festival
"Remp'Arts" (biennial)
May 1st takes place the lily of the valley
festival
Musical and folk groups animate the town. A local market
is held around the Place d'Armes. Fairgrounds also participate in
the festival.
The Christmas market is held the second weekend in
December. There is the "Village 1700" with many exhibitors in period
costume, craftsmen, games of the past for the youngest. A giant 25m
tree, a symbol of Christmas in Alsace, illuminates the central
square with a thousand lights.
Every two years, the stronghold
lives to the rhythm of a Napoleonic bivouac (camp, reenactments of
battles, 300 extras in costume ...)